Late one night, in the streets of Los Angeles, a speeding van stopped next to a dark, creepy alley. The driver’s door opened, and a cardboard box was thrown into the alley. The box happened to contain four little female kitties. Then, the van drove off. The four kitties stumbled out of the box and looked around. The gloomy place they were at did not look like their home at all. They shivered hopelessly as they stood alone and abandoned in the darkness. Hoping someone nearby would hear them and get them back home, the kitties started meowing and yowling. But the only thing they achieved was to call the attention of a big stray dog. It looked hungry for helpless little kitties! Terribly frightened, the four kitties ran for their lives. The dog chased after them. In order to lose the dog, the kitties jumped on some boxes, then onto a dumpster, and leapt over a wire fence. However, it scratched the kitties’ feet. Despite the pain, the kitties moved on. At least the dog was no longer chasing them. Suddenly, the kitties looked up to the night sky. Lots of swift and shiny things started falling! One of them fell right in front of them with a loud boom! It scared them badly, but then, they noticed there was a strange glowing goo right where the shiny thing landed. Curiously, the kitties approached the goo, and suddenly, they found themselves standing on it! At that moment, they began to feel woozy. The goo had entered their bodies through the scratches on their feet! Then, they felt a strange sensation in their bodies. It turned out they were growing up and changing form! In the end, they had the size and age of grownup human girls! Even their feet had become human like! On top of that, they started speaking:
“What the hairball was that?”
“Whatever it was, it changed us!”
“As if our owner not liking us wasn’t enough, the other humans won’t like us either if they see us like this!”
“Then let’s find somewhere to hide! Come on!”
The four kittens tried to run on four paws, but with their new bodies, it was harder. They had to stand on two legs and imitate the humans’ way of running. They hadn’t gone very far when they heard a voice calling them from the dark.
“Psst! Hey, over here! The four of you! Come here!”
The voice was a female one, and it sounded older than them. The four grownup kitties followed the voice, and found an adult female fennec fox. Strangely enough, she had a humanoid body, just like them.
“Who are you, Mrs. Fox?”
“My name is Mshauri.” The fennec fox said. “I’m afraid that, just like you, I had an unfortunate accident with that strange glowing goo.”
“You did?”
“Yes. But this is no place to hear an origin story. Follow me.”
Mshauri and the kitties went to a place where a tacos stand was found at daytime. Next to the stand’s entrance, there was a closed metal roll-up door. Mshauri used one of her claws to unlock the door so they could get inside. The place was a cellar where people stored taco ingredients. There, Mshauri proceeded to explain the situation.
“Okay, we’re safe now.” Mshauri said. “Now, as I was saying…”
“Oh, Mrs. Mshauri!” one of the kitties said. “Do you have something for us to eat? We haven’t eaten anything since we were abandoned.”
“Oh, I see. Hang on a sec.”
Mshauri gathered some ingredients, such as tortillas, meat and vegetables and made tacos. She handed them over to the kitties so they could eat.
“Mmm, this is delicious!” One kitty said.
“What are they?” Another kitty asked.
“These are called tacos.” Mshauri answered.
“They’re the best food ever!”
“Yeah, they bring me back so many good memories.” Mshauri said.
“So, why did we become like this, Mrs. Mshauri?” Another kitty asked.
“As you see, young ones, we have suffered some kind of mutation. And it’s all because of those strange glowing meteors that fell from the sky tonight.”
“But how is it possible?” one of the kitties asked.
“I’m not sure. Any bizarre thing can come from outer space.”
“And where do you come from?”
“Believe it or not, I come from Africa. Long ago, I had a master. His name was Dabir Tamuz. We had a job. He played music and I danced for our public. He taught me all about Capoeira, the perfect combination between dance and fighting moves. We became so popular in our homeland that we decided to travel to Los Angeles to earn more money and get a proper living. At first, things went as expected. People cheered us on and left us many tips. Dabir even frequented this very taco stand and bought food for us to eat. But one day, everything changed. Dabir met a Brazilian woman named Erika Zamora. She was a clothes designer who needed some musical accompaniment in order to earn fame. Master Dabir accepted the job. So one day, we got on stage. I and Dabir played music for Erika’s models, while they danced and posed their Brazilian dresses for the crowd. As time passed by, Erika’s shows and clothes became really successful. While we still had our Capoeira job, we were there to help Erika whenever she needed it. But one day, Erika had a wicked idea. She wanted to hunt animals so she could use their skin and design new dresses. My master was an animal lover so he totally refused the idea and quitted the job. Moreover, during our Capoeira shows, Dabir did propaganda against skinning animals for clothes. When she found out people were getting riled up against animal hunting, Erika was furious. She sent some poachers to our temporal home and neutralized my master. I ended up alone, so I escaped home and began to live in the streets. It was a though world out there, so I had to rely on what Dabir had taught me and honor my master by using Capoeira techniques to fend off against stray dogs. Three years have passed since then, and now, due to that extraterrestrial meteor shower, I have become this human sized freak. And so have you. No offense. So now there is no other way for us than to hide in this place. However, in case something happens, in case you’re in danger, or in case you walk into someone hostile, you will have to learn the ways of Capoeira so you can take good care of yourselves. From now on, I will be your tutor, and you will be my students. Uh… what are your names, again?”
“We have no names!” One of the kitties said.
“Our owner just dumped us on the street.” Another kitty said.
“Oh, how cruel humanity is.” Mshauri said. “All right, I’ll give you names. You, the orange one, you will be Loretta.”
“Loretta, eh? That’s a pretty name.”
“You, the white one with stripes, you will be Daniella.”
“Oh, Daniella! I like that one!”
“You, the black one. You will be Renata.”
“Hmm. Sounds good to me.”
“You, the grey one, will be Marcela.”
“Ooh, nice name!”
“Okay, young ones. Ready to begin your training?”
“Yeah!” the kitties said excitedly.
“Then let’s move and groove!”
Mshauri pulled out a DVD and popped it in a TV found in the cellar. She turned it on, and the TV started showing clips of Capoeira fights.
“This, my children, is what my master Dabir used to train me in Capoeira fighting style. It’s the only thing I have left of him. And now, I’m going to pass on his knowledge to you. This way, you will turn your bodies and feet into fighting machines! Watch these movements carefully, and when you feel prepared, imitate them!”
Loretta, Marcela, Renata and Daniella did so. Watching and memorizing every Capoeira move, they tried imitating them. They fell down a couple of times, but Mshauri never stopped believing in them. This inspired the kitties to keep trying, until they slowly began to get better at it. Once they have trained enough, Mshauri and the kitties slept the night away in the cellar. Early next morning, they escaped the cellar before the humans could find them. Hidden in the shadowy alleys, they resumed their training. Every sunset, when the taco stand was closed and humans went to their homes, Mshauri and the kitties entered the cellar, had tacos for dinner, trained a bit more, then went to sleep. Four weeks later, Loretta, Daniella, Renata and Marcela were ready. They had fully mastered the ways of Capoeira and were capable of fighting their way through any obstacle in life. As reward, Mshauri handed each kitty a carnival mask. Loretta’s was pink, Daniella’s was blue, Renata’s was green and Marcella’s was yellow. They also wore bras and Capoeira pants with their names written on the sides.
“You have passed the test, my kitties.” Mshauri said. “You have successfully learned what it takes to be a Capoeira fighter and this you have become… the Grownup Barefoot Capoeira Kitties!”
They looked at each other, proud of what they had become.
“And you’re also gonna need this.”
Mshauri granted each kitty a musical instrument.
“Loretta, you will be granted the tambourine. Renata, you will have the claves. Daniella, you get the bongos. And lastly, Marcela, the maracas are yours. Use these instruments to feel the rhythm and enhance your battle abilities.”
“Thank you, Master Mshauri.” Loretta said. “We’ll make you proud. I promise.”
“I know you will, my children.”
After a few days, while Mshauri was cleaning the cellar, the four kitties went out one night to look in the trash for new ingredients they could use for their tacos, when suddenly, they saw a young girl being robbed of her handbag and cellphone by a group of tough looking guys!
“Look at those guys!” Marcela said. “Who would rob a young lady like that?”
“A totally mean person.” Loretta said. “Come on, after them!”
“Be careful!” Daniella said. “The humans cannot see us!”
“Then let’s stick to the shadows!” Renata said.
Hiding in the shadowy corners of the street, the kitties chased after the burglars until they arrived at a parking. There, they celebrated their crime.
“Another successful heist for the Crimson Dinos!” their boss said.
One of the burglars checked the cellphone.
“Good thing she didn’t lock it. Naive youngsters.”
He took a look at the phone’s gallery and found glamorous dress designs.
“He heh. Look, boys. The mistress will be pleased to look at these.”
“She’ll give us lots of dollar bills for this!” Another crook said.
“Quick, send it to her.” The boss said.
Suddenly, they heard something moving in the shadows. Startled, they looked around to see what it was. Then, something, or someone attacked them with Capoeira moves from the behind. In the end, all of the burglars were knocked out, and the young lady’s handbag and cellphone suffered no damage. They left them on the ground so the girl could pick them up, then left the place. Shortly after, the girl arrived to grab her stuff. While they were heading home, the kitties talked to each other about what they had just done.
“Did you see that?” Renata said. “Our first battle!”
“And we successfully won!” Daniella said.
“We knocked them down, kissing the ground!” Marcela said.
“They literally didn’t know what hit them!” Loretta said.
“Let’s just hope Master Mshauri doesn’t learn about this.” Daniella said.
“Do you think someone else noticed us?” Renata asked.
“I don’t think so.” Loretta said. “Let’s just get home before something else happens.”
What the kitties were unaware of, is that one of the cars in the parking had a hidden night camera. The whole recording of the fight was transmitted to a big screen in the office of a tall building. The one watching all of this was… Erika Zamora!
“Unbelievable!” she said. “Human sized cats! Their skin will be just perfect for my upcoming dresses. And with these lovely designs I just received, commercial success will soon be mine!”
TO BE CONTINUED…